


Fated

by inkheart9459



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Day 3, F/F, General Danvers Week, Historical AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 11:18:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11416827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkheart9459/pseuds/inkheart9459
Summary: When Astra finds Alexandra on the beach on the outskirts of her small Spartan town, she immediately thinks she's an Athenian spy lost in the tides. When she confronts the other woman, though, she claims to be an Amazon warrior, waylaid by a storm on her way to the front to prove herself. Astra doesn't quite know whether to believe Alexandra or not, but something inside her trusts the woman enough to lead her into town for supplies and a night spent in one of Astra's guest rooms.





	Fated

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, this is because I wanted to write something with Amazons it in. And Astra just sort of fits as the wife of a Spartan soldier let's be real. Hope y'all enjoy.

Astra found Alexandra on the beach on her morning run. She was shoving a boat onto the beach, looking around with calculating eyes. She hadn’t noticed Astra yet and Astra debated on slipping into town to gather some of the other women to deal with their intruder. They were in the middle of a war after all, but something stopped her. Her instincts, which her instructors had praised when she was younger, told her that this woman was not a threat. Being careful, however, was not remiss. She unsheathed the knife she kept tucked in her toga at all times and slipped it into her hand, but did not raise it.

Astra walked closer. “Who are you?” She called when she was within hearing distance.

The woman whipped around and had a bow strung and aimed at Astra’s chest in a blink. Impressive. She was not from Athens then. The women there could do nothing at all when it came to combat. Her nose twitched at the thought of being so helpless. 

“Who are you?” The woman demanded. 

“You are the one who landed on the coast of my home, not vice versa,” Astra said calmly. “It stands that you should be the one to answer first.”

“My bow says differently.”

Astra smiled for half a second before her arm was moving forward, throwing the knife, tip aimed around above where the woman’s hand gripped the bow. The woman saw the knife coming and tried to dodge, but she wasn’t quite fast enough. Her bow flew from her hand.

“Now,” Astra said, holding another, smaller knife that she kept in her sandals, “who are you?”

The woman scowled. “Alexandra of Scythios.”

Astra’s eyebrows rose. “And what exactly is an Amazon doing of the island?”

“My training is over. Now I must go on a journey to prove that I am worthy of becoming a full Amazon.” She stared directly but Astra could see her starting to shift towards her bow. She was good, it was subtle, but Astra had experience on the girl.

“Don’t think about it. If you are who you say you are, I don’t have a quarrel with you. One can never be too careful during a time of war, however.”

Alexandra nodded. “I came to prove myself in the war. I was blown off course, however, and now I need more supplies.”

“Well, I can lead you to somewhere that will have what you need, but we will need to move your boat. When the tide comes in, it will not be safe.” She gestured up towards the caves in the cliffs. “There are places in those caves where a boat can be secured safely for an extended period. The tide won’t favor your departure until morning now.”

Alexandra nodded. “Thank you.” She looked over at her bow. “May I now?”

“If you aren’t about to shoot me, then be my guest.” Astra arched an imperious brow. “You aren’t about to shoot me, yes?”

“There would be no honor in that.”

Astra laughed. “Oh, my dear girl, Sparta only sees honor in the win, not how you get there.” But she sheathed her knife as a show of good faith.

Alexandra picked up her bow and put the arrow back in her quiver and swung her bow over her shoulder. Without hesitating she started to push her boat farther up the beach. Astra smirked she was heading toward the wrong cave. It would be amusing to watch her struggle, but it would waste time. She could leave the girl to her own devices, but giving her directions to town would most likely land her in the path of someone who wouldn’t hesitate to kill a stranger instead of ask questions. She shouldn’t care, Alexandra was a stranger, but quite honestly, it would be a crime against the gods to let someone as beautiful as Alexandra die needlessly. She looked over the girl’s straining muscles and licked her lips. Yes, a crime indeed. 

And besides, Astra was one of the best warriors left in town now that all the men were gone. If Alexandra proved not to be who she said she was, then she stood the best chance of ending her quickly. Really, there were multiple reasons for her to go along with Alexandra.

She jogged over to the boat and lent a hand. “Two caves over from the one you are aiming at now,” she suggested.

Alexandra huffed and shifted her aim. “You never answered. Who are you?” She asked, without being the slightest bit winded.

“Astra of Zarax. You weren’t blow terribly off course, but off course still.”

Alexandra nodded. “Another two days sail to the front then.”

“Yes.” 

They pushed the boat further up the beach and into the cave that Astra had directed them to. Alexandra saw the raised platform where boats were stored and wasted no time levering her boat up and tying it off for good measure.

Astra leaned against the wall watching her. “Tell me, Alexandra of Scythios, have you decided what side of the war you are on?”

“I haven’t quite decided. No side is clearly in the right. It’s a war based on differences of culture really and the fear that one state will grow too powerful and try to take over the other. How do you pick a side from that information until you see the front?”

“If you had to pick right now would you choose the pompous idiots who think poetry is king or would you choose hardy warriors like yourself?”

“The Amazons value both.” Alexandra shrugged. 

“But Athenians barely let their women breathe without permission. Sparta is not perfect, but it is not as backwards as those idiots.”

Alexandra paused at that. “And that is a large strike against them, but Spartans live to fight and nothing else. That is not a life. Part of the mission is that I have to pick a side on my own and justify why. And I will do so. On my own.”

Astra huffed out a breath. If the girl wouldn’t see reason, well that was her own downfall.

Alexandra turned around, done with tying off her boat. “Now, you were going to show me a market?” 

Astra nodded and left the cave, Alexandra in tow. It took an hour to get up the cliffs and into the city proper. Astra inclined her head to those who greeted her, making sure that Alexandra was close behind. The girl had sense enough to keep close and keep her head down. Nor had she tried to stab Astra in the back when the opportunity presented itself. Either she was who she said she was, or the girl was smarter a tactician than most of the Athenian army. 

“What is it exactly that you need?” Astra asked as they reached the market.

“Food that will survive two days or more.”

Astra nodded and lead the girl to the butcher who always had preserved meat, the baker who did tolerable hard bread, the girl with the cheeses that kept easily, the woman who sold hardy vegetables and fruit that would stand a bit of knocking around. When they were done Astra turned to Alexandra.

“Do you have enough?”

Alexandra nodded. “I just need a place to fill my water pots, but then I will be good to go in the morning.”

“Good, come along then.”

Alexandra blinked for a moment, just standing there staring after Astra as she walked off. She caught up in a few quick strides. “Where are we going?”

“You need somewhere to stay the night, do you not?” Astra asked in a deadpan tone.

“I mean yes, but there was an inn that we passed while shopping. I thought we would part ways after I was done getting supplies.”

“Not if you want to live through the night.” Astra shook her head. “You are a good fighter, but not being off that island of yours has deprived you of some basic learning experiences, I think.”

Alexandra made noises of protest, but they didn’t amount to much in the way of an actual defense, so Astra just ignored her and continued walking towards her home.

 

\--

 

Astra’s gate faltered when she saw the horses outside the gates to her estate. They were wearing the light armor of a Spartan cavalry horse on the move. And one of them. One of them had a litter on the back.

She stopped to gather herself for a moment. She would have to have a brave face on to face the soldiers. A wife of a Spartan officer should be proud her husband had died in battle. And she was, her upbringing wouldn’t allow her not to be, but Non had been her friend for longer than she could remember, even after he had been shipped off to training when they saw each other around town, they had talked as if no time had passed. He had understood that Astra’s interest in a husband was in name alone. His interest in a wife had been similar. 

And now what would she do. Women in Sparta had many more freedoms, but she would still be expected to marry again. She had no children and was still young enough to bear a few. Someone would get it into their heads and then try to weedle her into a match. She did not want that. She wanted her friend back.

A few tears slipped down her face but she wiped them quickly.

“Astra?” Alexandra asked.

“Those men are here to tell me my husband is dead,” Astra said, her voice steady as a rock.

Alexandra paused at that, obviously not sure what to say. “I’m sorry.”

“If he died in battle he died well.” 

She strode forward, seeing the tops of the officer’s helmets, red hair atop the metal catching the eye as she got closer. She walked straight up to the highest ranking officer and planted herself there. She spared no quarter and went straight to the point.

“In battle?” She asked, words terse and cut off.

The man nodded. “He took out fifty Athenians before he succumbed to his wounds.”

“Then the world is fifty insufferable fools lighter and one brave warrior short.”

“Indeed it is, my lady.”

She turned to the gates. “Helena, open the gates,” she shouted loud enough for even the older servant to hear.

“His body has been prepared for burial and we rode through the night to make sure he was still in good shape for burial.”

Astra turned towards the officer. “He would have been just as happy to have his final resting place among his men on the battlefield.”

“He would have. He was one of the best of us.”

“Come inside, gentlemen. There will be feed for your horses and a meal for you in thanks.” She looked over at Alexandra who had hung back, looking over the soldiers with interest and a slight weariness. She tilted her head towards the inside of the compound before going inside. If Alexandra chose to stay outside, well, she had more important problems now than taking care of one Amazon.

 

\--

 

Astra stared up at the moon. It was the middle of the night. Non was already buried beside his family in the corner of their compound, the grave marked by his helmet and a bunch of flowers that Alexandra had somehow acquired. She must have climbed one of the compound’s walls to get them. Astra appreciated the sentiment even if the action was foolish. Her house guest had been quiet since they had returned otherwise. Astra was thankful. She needed quiet. She needed peace to come to terms with what the night had brought.

Below her was the beach she had met Alexandra on this morning, above her the sky, and somewhere far off the gods were watching. Nothing had changed it seemed at yet everything had. A few more tears tracked down her face, but this time she didn’t wipe them away. There was no one to see. She didn’t have to be strong.

Footsteps sounded behind her and Astra didn’t move to wipe the tears away. Servants would have announced their presence so there was only one person that could be behind her. Alexandra sat beside her a few seconds later. She just sat beside Astra and nothing else, offering company and support without words. 

“I loved him as a brother. I almost wonder if that’s worse than losing a lover,” Astra said after a long time. The moon was halfway across the sky now.

“I would die if anything happened to my sister. There is no one else like her. Love can be found again, but family…” Alexandra trailed off.

“Yes.” A thought came to her, a distraction at most from the feeling inside of her.

“Tell me, Amazons are all women, how do relationships work there?” Astra rested her head on her knees. She was tired. So tired.

“Well, men aren’t really necessary for anything other than procreating. If a woman or a woman and her partner think the time is right for a child they find a willing man off the island and let things take their natural course from there.”

Astra hummed. “Sounds like a place I would much rather be. I’ll be allowed time to grieve, of course, but at some point someone will suggest I get married again so I may have kids. It is just how it is done.”

“Do you want children?” 

Astra looked over at Alexandra. Her eyes were clear, honest, she meant no harm in asking. She thought about Kara, about how happy her sister was to have her daughter. She was a blessing from the gods, but. “Children I would not mind, but the process to get them holds no interest to me. There is a reason I would prefer the island of the Amazons, Alexandra.”

“I see.” Alexandra’s cheeks colored silvered-pink in the moonlight.

Astra drew in a deep breath. She had already know that Alexandra was a beautiful woman, but in that moment it hit her deeply, like a blade to the chest and twice as searing. She had been too wrapped up in determining if Alexandra was the enemy to notice really the extent of it, but now with her defenses down, now she felt everything.

“I’m sorry,” Alexandra said. “No one should be forced into something they don’t want.”

Astra shrugged. “Such is the way of life. I am not an Athenian woman. I have options. I could just not capitulate, but it would not be looked upon favorably. Everyone must do their part to produce sons of the state and all that. She waved it off.

They sat in silence for another long stretch of time. Astra went back to staring at the moving moon, but there were still glimpses over in Alexandra’s direction. Astra knew that she would be sad when the woman left in the morning, but it couldn’t be helped. An Amazon did not belong here. She belonged out fighting, among the legends, not in this small town far away from the front. As much as her heart beat in her chest staring at Alexandra she might think that the gods had fated them together, but it couldn’t be.

The sky was starting to lighten when Alexandra spoke again. “Come with me.”

Astra blinked, sure that whatever Alexandra had just said she’d misheard. She was tired after all. “What?”

“Come with me. If you don’t want to be here, to be pressured into a marriage, come with me. Prove yourself in battle, come back to Scythios with me, you’ll be accepted as you are.”

Astra looked around her at all of the things that were hers now that Non was dead. She owned the house and the slaves and the money, everything. She could live here the rest of her days comfortably, even if the town muttered behind her back, she would not suffer greatly. But would that really be a life?

“I’m not an Amazon.”

“But you are trained as a warrior, yes?” Alexandra fingered the bow that was hanging around her shoulders still, grazing over the knick that Astra’s knife had left.

“In a way, not as well as the men are, but I am proficient enough to get by.”

“I could train you in whatever you were lacking in.” Alexandra’s eyes were starting to light up. She was sitting up straighter and a smile was ghosting across her face.

“I have a sister and a niece, could I still visit them?” Scythios was far, but she was already a week’s travel from her sister, what would a few more days travel hurt for her once yearly visits?

“I don’t see why not. Amazons venture off the island all the time for missions and the like. There is only one unbreakable rule on Scythios, and you are not a man, so.” Alexandra shrugged. 

Astra looked around again. This was her home. She would be leaving behind everything she knew if she went. She would not live the luxurious life she could have here. She would live the rough life of a warrior. She had no idea if she could take it, but there would be no turning back if she went. 

But…

If she were to go, there would be things she would need to do. She would need to gift the property to Alura. She would need to let the staff know of her departure and their change in ownership. She would need to pack a bag. She would need to take as much money as she could for their travels. She would need her own rations. Her mind spun with everything she needed to do before she left.

But there was one part of her mind that was quiet.

“Will you come?” Alexandra asked, hopeful eyes looking at her, reflecting the first rays of the sun. There was another sunrise contained in the light hitting her eyes. Astra was mesmerized by it. Maybe they were fated after all.

“Yes, I will come with you, Alexandra.”

 


End file.
